ABSTRACT
Many teachers do not fully realise their responsibilities in relation to how the school tackles statutory assessment and how it interprets these results. The expectations on teachers have steadily risen over the last few years, and at the very least teachers need to be familiar with the recent DfEE publications Getting the Most from your Data (DfEE 1999b) and Recognising Progress — Getting the most from your data (DfEE 2000c). Schools engage in a range of statutory procedures, starting with baseline assessment. The consultation document (DfEE 2000b) indicates that baseline assessment may be moved to the end of the Reception Year and that schools will need to develop an entry record from the beginning of a child's school career. Inspections and LEAs are routinely using baseline assessment as a predictor for Key Stage 1 SATs, and these are in turn used as predictors for Key Stage 2. The mandatory targets for children aged 11 feed through this process also: National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) regularly produces indicators for future SATs performance based on baseline assessment. This is part of the ‘Signposts’ package (Birmingham LEA 2000). It is important that the teachers gain understanding about how and why these targets are set because their performance management targets are likely to be linked to them.
